Disk drives are used in many electronic devices such as laptops, MP3 players, GPS, PDA devices and other devices. Slider air bearing is a key component of these drives. Some of the requirements of these drives include “low altitude sensitivity” and “low speed sensitivity” performances.
The low altitude sensitivity means that the slider air bearing has a small fly height (FH) loss at a higher altitude (such as 3000 meters) compared to the FH at sea level. The requirement for a small FH loss becomes more important for current drives with sub 10 nanometer FH.
Low speed sensitivity means that the slider air bearing has a small fly height loss at low speed operation (e.g., during a servo track write) compared to fly height loss at operational speeds.